Improvement in sewing-machines



To sala/'hom it may concern.'

4of Boston, inthe county of Suffolk and State fullmprovementsin Sewing-Machines; and Ij do hereby declare that the. following is a full" the annexed drawings, making a part of this. specification, in whiching position. Fig. 3 is a top vview of-the 'mathe stand or tablewere removeds Fig. 4 is a.

. cross-sectionof the front-part of the machine, showing the cloth-holder c and the. apparatus for raising' it and pressing it into theA cloth.' 'It shows the needle and its attachment to the J paratus. Fig. 5 illustrates'the shuttle. Fig. '6 gives a top view of the machine. i V shows the formation of the stitch in its differthread 4into the eye'of the needle, on a large scale. Fig. 8 isa surface view of the cams,

` will designate the same parts in the different different parts'of the. vmachine areaattached.

, the apparatus for workingit. "D is the needlearm.. E is, a shaftto which the needle-arm is connected. F isa lever, which -moves the shuttle. Gis the shuttle, f His a cam, which gives the needle-arm D and the needle h thei'rrequisite4 motiom I is' the cam which moves .the

.mores .cherchiez-agrade .KL-g Lgi' tneftam.- vwhich gites the -fceamoaoa n M .ische ny- .1 ITED STATES FATF-N T O-FFIC- WILLIAM wIcKnnsIIAM, von BOSTON,- MAssAoIIUsETTs.' i

|MPaovsMx-:N'r-IN SEWING-MACHINES.

' Specification forming partof Letters Patent No. l18.069, dated August'Q, 1857.

Beit known that I, WILLIAM WICKERSIIAM',

of Massachusetts, have invented new and useand exact description ofthe construction and operation of the-same, reference being had to .Figure-l is a perspective view. Fig. 2 isa'. side sectional view,- showing a portion of the maehiner-yor parts arranged in -their ,work-l chine as it lwould appear if the upper'. part of needle-bar D. It also shows the feeding ap;-

Fig. 7

ent stages until completed; also, it shows the end of the thread-guide whichthrows the showing their forms; Fig. 9 shows the stitch which .my machine-makes, on a large scale. Fig. 10 shows the needle on a large scale.

In specifying my machine the same letters drawings'as follows: A represents the table or stand to which the Bis the main shaft. ,C is an arm fastened upon thetable which contains the cloth-holder and lever F and thefshuttleQ 2T. is :the cam ywhich wheel and crank. Nis-the-thread. O-isthe feed-lever,- operatedfbyf thfe`cam'fL.'- -Q lisla groove or way suitably formed for .the shuttle(n the lower 'end,.t o:hold the clothrin lwhile fbeing sewed. V is a small cam to raise the lcloth-holder 'z .olf the cloth. W is a spring to hold said cloth-holder down while the cloth is being-fed along underneath it. is a spring to throw the feed-lever intoV its first position afterit has been moved by the feed-cam L.'

H" is a spring todraw the thread-guide F into its first position after it has thrown the thread:

into the eye of the needle. z is the foot on the cloth-holder. e is asmall notch inthe end of the thread-guide K, to" hold thethread while being guided into the needle-hook. h is the needle, shown on 'a large scale at Fig. l0. c' is a small spring. to give tension to the thread as it passesbetween said spring and the side of 'the shuttle; j is the .bobbin .-or spindle,

'with the thread wound onto it in such a man- 'u I ner'that ittcan pass. freely on at one end while 'being sewed' int'o the cloth.` 'Ll are chains for feeding the cloth, having small teeth in one edge of them, shown vin a part just under the foot z of the cloth-holder. These chains 'are separated by a small gear, m, on. the shaft n. ois

-aratchet-gear on` the shaft fn: p is a dog at,-

tached to the feed-lever O to work in the teeth of the ratchet-gear o 'and turn it when'said lever is moved-by the cani L. p is a spring to the dog p 'to ykeep it in the teeth of the;

ratchet-gear o. r is a roll or pulley for the feedchains 'to pass over atv one side. s s are twoV ypoints fastened into the spring o on theshut tlc-lever F, which pass into small holes in the shuttle for the purpose of moving it.. O

the backA part-of said points or pins s sare projections tt, which pass successively against 'the projection u in such a manner as to cause each one of the points s-s/to move out from the shuttle when it comes near to the loop ofthe thread which theshuttle is going through,` in v such a manner that said points 'will not'pref 'vent the shuttle. fron passing freely through the loop;

' lAt o and o is shown a front and a sidev 'view of the eye of my needle, which consists of two hooks, one below and-one above the opening, for the thread'to'pass into eitherone or the fotherbf said hooks. One of these hooks is to carry the loop of the thread up through thei cloth, and the other to 'carry said' ,loop down rhyqugh-thtioth in another piace, soma the shuttle` can pass through said loop. These v liooIs-may be made by first making along eye in theneele, and them-halfway from one end to the other of said eye, making a gap or opening into it from one side of the needle, as shown ina side view at cf, Fig. 10. I have -the point of myneedleincline toward the side which the' hooks are on, for the purpose ofmaking all the pressure of the cloth lon the opposite side'from the hooks to prevent saidhooks from catching into the cloth. no is a piece of metal fastened into the end ofthe i needle-'arm D, having fa slit c ut'in the lower end suitable to hold the needle, and a tapering :screw cut on the outside for the nut g/ to screwv onto to fastenthe needle.

llaving described the principalL parts of my machine,I will now proceed to explain its operation.

In turning the main shaft B the needle his made to move up and down by means ofthe cam H, operating theneedle-bar D through the pin a, turning upon the shaft E. Iwill suppose that the shaft B has been thus turned until the needle has come to the position seen in Fig. 2. The same position of the needle is also shown in example 2,'Fig. 7, where two thicknesses of the clothZare shown, and the thread is represented stretched on theunder side of the cloth below the needle, as it wouldbe after-one stitch had been sewed and the shuttle ,hady moved. forward to its farthest point, drawing up the loop close around the thread N, which the shuttle had just passed through said loop. Next stage inthe formation ofthe stitch is shown in example, Fig. 7. In this example the machine has been turned far enough to cause the thread-guide F to move from its first position back a little from the needle by its roll f, passing into the cavity J', to receive the thread andtake it out of the wayof the needle-point as it descends;

also for the needle to pass down and the thread-guide to movev the thread forward, wrapping it partly around the needle, as seen in example l, Fig. 7, by means of the cam' J, pressing against the roll f. The thread being held in this position-the machine continues to turn until the opening in the eye of the needle has come up even with the thread thus pressedagainst theneedle by the thread-guide 'and the thread passed into the eye, completing the example 3. rlhen by turning the machine` further the needle is caused to' move up, carry-Y ing the thread, which was just thrown into its eye to its highest` position. Meantime the thread-guide has been withdrawn to. its first position, lthe shuttle has moved back until the hole from which the thread comes is about evenwith the needle, and the cloth Z has been fed along far enough for a stitch by means of the cam L, moving the lever vO, the dog p, the

- ratchet-gear o,` the shaft n, and-the small chain-gear m, which moves the chains Z l, and the cloth with them, completing the position of example 4, last referred to; By turning y,a little farther the needle is 'moved downward, and at the same time the shuttle recedes in such manner as to draw the loop of the thread,

which the needle holds above the clot-h, straight,

le h v 18.069

so that said thread will not be liable to'come under' the point of the needle as it descends, completing example 5. Another movement of the machine causes the needle to pass down,

the shuttle in the mean time receding sufiicient to take up the slack th read of theloop abo ve the A.

cloth and in the eye of the needle as the needle passes down. l-Vhen the needle reaches its lowest point and rises up a little, causing a loop to form on the side which the shuttle passes,

the shuttle moves forward, so that the point of it `passes through the loop, while one side of said loop is close inthe upper .hook of the needle, bringingthe shuttle and needle to the position shown in example 6. 'lhe 'needle' then rises up, and the shuttle goes forward in such manner as to take the loop out of the hook in said-needle and Vbring the needle and shuttle to the position of example 7. By the shuttles moving forward to its farthest point it will readily be seen that the loop which it has just passed through will be drawn up to Vthe cloth and close around the thread coming To continue immediately from the shuttle. the operation as described a seam is formed which cannot be unraveled, having something of the appearance ofy a 'chain or loop stitch seam on one side and a back stitch on the other, as shown in aside, top, and bottom view in Fig. 9, Where a side view of said seameis shown at example l, a top view at 4example 2,1 and a bottom view at example 3. vlVh'eny v the stitch-is drawn" up differently, so as not todraw the loop so tight above the cloth, a seam is formed, as'shown in a side view at example 4 and a top View at example 5. The

motion of the needle in these -examples is Y given' by the cam. H through the pin a and the needle arm or lever D, and the -motion of the shuttle is given by the cam l. through the pin g andthe lever F, turning lon the stud d asa fnlcrunr. In' Fig. 5 is shown the shuttle G complete, with abobbin or thread wound upon the spindle j, thefthread passing off of vdog p, attached to said lever, catches in the teeth of the ratchet-gear o, apart of which teeth are shown in Fig. 4, causing it and the shaft a to turn a little way round, where-it is held by a small spring, b, until the lever 0 is drawn to its first position by the spring H.

vWhen the shaft n moves, the small chain-gear 'mon one end of it causes the chains ll to move with it. These chains pass through two grooves in the top of the table A, each si'de ofthe hole which'the needle passes through, around the. chain-gear m, and around the roll 1', so as to have anendless motion. There are small teeth in the upper edge of said chains der the eh ih-holder z, which presses the cloth onto said chains by means of the spring u1.

After having thus .described my machine,

what l claim as 1n y invention, and desire to se" Y cu re by Letters Patent, is;-

- l. The m hod of takingfnp the slack thread above the cl th by means of the shuttlethat is, when the needle descends after having taken the thread up through the cloth and to its greatest distance above said elothf-thc drawing down through the'cloth the end oi' the thread connected with; the shuttle by means of the shuttle recedingfrom ,the needle as the needle descends, ,thereby preventing the liability othe thread' getting under. the point of the needle as said needle passes down linto the cloth` by thus keeping said thread straight, or nearly so, until said needle-pointjs sufficiently near said cloth that and 9.

as they pass each side of the needle and un.- lvthere is no further liability ofthe thread pass ing under it.` i

2. The formation of a s'cam of one thread which cannot be umaveied, ofstitehes each Of which is made by. having the loop. or double of the thread passed through from oneside t0. the other of the cloth and back again'in-ainother place to the iirstuside f' f `said cloth, andaloop Y formed by means of ahook`needle,andthen by having the same threadof which 'saidloop' is formed passed through` .said loop, and the loop drawn 11p to the .cloth around the thread thus passed through it .by means of a shuttle, as herein specified, and illustrated in Figs. 7 

